57 posts categorized "Crime Rate"

July 15, 2015

As summertime reaches its peak so does household property crime. The National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC), and McGruff the Crime Dog® are here to provide you and your loved ones with important safety tips to make your summer safe and enjoyable.

“Summer is the perfect time for a family break, but criminals don’t take a summer break,” said NCPC’s CEO, Ann M. Harkins. “You can avoid becoming a victim to lurking property predators by staying alert and following a few basic prevention measures.”

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, – “Household property crimes exhibited a pattern of seasonal fluctuations from 1993 to 2010. The most common pattern for household property crimes was that victimization occurred at higher rates during the summer than during other seasons.”

Home Safety Tips

Be aware of what’s happening in the neighborhood: Download the McGruff Mobile app (available on iTunes or Google Play) to stay up-to-date regarding home and vehicle burglaries near your home. Receive and share information on the virtual neighborhood watch about suspicious activity in your neighborhood and receive alerts when you are away.

Lock your doors, including the garage door. Unlocked doors are open invitations to intruders.

Ask a trusted family member, friend, or neighbor to keep a watchful eye on your home or have your mail held at the local post office until your return.

Put lights on timers to give the impression that someone is home.

Don’t post on social media that you are leaving town, and wait post photos after you return from your trip.

Vacation Tips

Lock your room and remember not to give out your room number or invite strangers into your hotel room.

Be friendly but be vigilant. Watch for and report any suspicious behavior.

Keep your belongings secure - Purses should be securely closed, backpacks are zipped, and wallets are kept in your front pocket. When dining in restaurants do not hang your purse or backpack on the back of your chair.

Tips for Parents

Be proactive – make a backup plan in case the group gets separated during a family outing and have a scheduled meeting place and time.

If your child or teen will be alone a significant amount of time, have him/her check in with you if they plan to leave the house and when they arrive back home.

Monitor Internet and social media activity to establish children and teens are visiting appropriate sites and following guidelines.

Do not leave valuables in the car. If you must leave prized possessions in your vehicle keep them out of sight or hidden in the trunk.

Before you get into your car, check the backseat and around the car. Lock your doors once inside the car.

These prevention tips are simple steps to avoiding summertime crime. If you would like more information, please visit www.ncpc.org. To get the free McGruff Mobile App, download for free on iTunes or Google Play.

July 01, 2015

McGruff the Crime Dog®, the National Crime Prevention Council’s iconic symbol of safety and crime prevention, is turning 35 this year and he is marking the occasion with a month-long social media celebration.

McGruff will make his first appearance on Instagram for his birthday, today, July 1, 2015. (follow @McGruff_NCPC)

Celebrate with NCPC and be involved in McGruff’s efforts to “Take A Bite Out Of Crime®”. You can post photos with McGruff, share memories, or simply send him a birthday shout out using the hashtag #McGruff35. You can also participate on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn all month long.

Instructions:

A photo of McGruff can be downloaded here. Print it, cut it out, and upload photos of you and McGruff to Instagram using the hashtag #McGruff35. Take him with you as you celebrate summer and remember to practice good safety habits.

About McGruff:

In 1980, a dog in a rumpled trench coat said, "You don't know me yet. But you will." Since then, McGruff the Crime Dog has taught millions of people that law enforcement can't fight crime alone. Crime prevention is everybody's business and everyone can help "Take A Bite Out Of Crime." Through television commercials, comic books, live appearances, and more, McGruff has encouraged Americans to take reasonable steps to prevent crime.

Friend us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and connect with us on LinkedIn to stay connected as the National Crime Prevent Council shares easy-to-use crime prevention tips that protect what matters most— you, your family, and your community.

April 28, 2015

Each year on average more than 293,000 people (age 12 or older) are victims of rape and/or sexual assault. In other words, every 107 seconds another American is sexually assaulted. The number of victims is still staggering when you consider that sexual assaults have decreased by 19% from previous years.

It can be difficult for victims to come forward especially on college campuses where sometimes there is an assumption of consent if alcohol or other substances are involved. It can be disturbing to hear people ask, “Was he drinking?” “What was she wearing?” “How was he/she acting?”

It is equally disturbing to learn that others may have known about or photographed the incident and shared it via social media.

We need to focus our attention on the perpetrators and bystanders who believe style of dress, alcohol, or use of other substances is implied consent. It's not consent; it is a crime.

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary definition, "consent" is "permission for something to happen or agreement to do something." Northwestern University defines sexual consent as "sexual activity that requires consent, which is defined as voluntary, positive agreement between the participants to engage in the specific sexual activity."

The University outlines some ways in which consent is communicated. These include: "consent has not been given in the absence of clear, positive agreement; communicating verbally before engaging in sexual activity is imperative; and consent must be clear and unambiguous for each participant at every stage of a sexual encounter.”

We need to maintain open dialogue with students at colleges and universities to remind them that sexual assault is a crime. Bystanders who record the act may be liable too.

The legal implications are many but it comes down to respect. Respect for each other and respect for the victims. Remember, "No means no" and unconscious or silent does not mean consent.

If you see a sexual assault happen or think you may be a victim of assault, please contact local authorities immediately.

August 05, 2014

Do you know what is happening in your neighborhood? Has there been a recent burglary near your home? Do you know if there are any sex offenders on your street? There’s an app for that! Enter McGruff Mobile, powered by AlertID, the free national online and mobile service that helps to reduce crime, protect families, and bring neighbors together. AlertID has partnered with the National Crime Prevention Council (Home to McGruff the Crime Dog ®) to create this simple but powerful app to help keep us safe whether we are at home, work, school, or traveling.

Download the McGruff Mobile smartphone app and enroll for a free membership. Once enrolled, you’ll be able to view an interactive map displaying crimes and sex offenders in your neighborhood. You will be now be able to receive alerts and information via email or mobile device for as many addresses as you like, and you can even get information where you are standing—even as you are reading this. After signing up, you can receive law enforcement emergency alerts, crime and sex offender alerts, prevention tips, severe weather alerts, hazardous material alerts, and much more. The app also includes a virtual neighborhood watch where you can share photos and information about suspicious activity with neighbors, police, and even Homeland Security.

“Within the first week of college, my friend got raped and mugged by a gang. I was fearful of walking around my campus at night. After downloading the McGruff Mobile app, I feel more aware in my surroundings,” said Max Mescall, a fulltime college student.

The McGruff Mobile app, available for iPhone and Android, provides important alerts from trusted sources that can be used to keep you and your family safe at work, home, or at play. It helps you to stay informed and alert and offers safety and prevention tips for all alerts. The virtual neighborhood watch can be used for your home, other addresses, or your current location.

Safety has never been simpler and more personalized. You can customize your account to receive only the information you prefer and can add as many addresses as you like. Want to make sure Mom and Dad’s house is safe? No problem, it takes only a few seconds. Join with members across the country who already receive local crime prevention and other alerts at their fingertips.

Available for free on the iTunes App Store or Android Market, it’s safe to say, the McGruff Mobile app should be your next download.

June 09, 2014

An important part in reducing gang violence comes from street outreach programs throughout communities in the United States. Street workers can also be known as gang interventionists, street walkers, and gang outreach workers but they all work to reach out to youth and young adults in gangs. They strive to adapt violent and delinquent behavior; work with the gang member and their families; offer access to education, legal services, housing services, and mental health services; and act as a positive role model. While best practices of street outreach programs have not yet been established, outreach program practitioners have suggested successful aspects of current programs. These aspects include beginning with a structured program with well-defined goals, establishing clear roles and boundaries for outreach staff and law enforcement, and providing training for outreach staff and cross-training for law enforcement (National Gang Center Quarterly Newsletter - Fall 2013).

One effective program is StreetSafe Boston. The program “aims to contribute to a reduction of violence in Boston by focusing interventions on approximately 20 of the city’s most active gangs in neighborhoods disproportionately affected by gang violence.” The two core strategies are street level gang intervention and neighborhood-based service delivery. Street level gang intervention includes a team of highly trained Streetworkers that have street and community credibility to establish relationships with gang involved youth and influence them to engage in positive programs. The neighborhood-based service delivery provides case management and access to community-based services for youth involved in gangs. The organization also offers a transitional employment program, which gives participants an opportunity for on-the-job training and building life skills (www.bostonfoundation.org).

October 31, 2012

Now that Sandy has ripped up the eastern seaboard, flooding
homes, tearing off roofs, and bringing down trees, people are beginning to
clean up. There will be a great many
good contractors out there that will give you a reasonable price to conduct
thorough work. But there will also be
the unscrupulous characters that will overcharge, use inferior products, take a
deposit and never return to do the work, and otherwise try to scam you out of
your hard-earned money.

Even though you’re in a hurry to get repairs done and debris
removed. Be sure to check out
contractors and other repair people before hiring them.

Use contractors and service people that you’ve
used before. Or ask your neighbors or friends for recommendations.

Get several estimates before choosing someone to
do the job.

Make sure to get a signed contract or estimate
before allowing anyone to perform work on your home.

Check your state’s licensing agency to make sure
that your contractor is licensed. Ask to
see proof of insurance.

Stay away from the guy driving down the road,
drumming up business as he goes along.
He may claim that he’s doing work for your neighbor or has materials
leftover from another job. These are
almost always scammers.

Don’t pay with cash. Although many small contractors don’t accept
credit cards, they will accept checks.

Don’t give service people money to buy
materials. Ideally, contractors will buy
the materials up front and bill you later.
If not, them at the store and pay for the materials there.

Check with the Better Business Bureau or other
consumer protection groups in your area.

Although there are people who will try to take advantage of others
during hard times, there are also communities across the country that will be
pulling together in the wake of Sandy’s destruction to help each other dig out,
repair, and come together as neighbors. While watching out for yourself, please
remember to help out others.

October 25, 2012

There is definitely tons of information available online and
is just a click away for so many online users today, specifically for teens and
young adults. CyberSafety Awareness week
brings forth a time to reinforce the detriment and serious impact that lurks
behind the computer screens for numerous teens that fall victim to cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is a problem that affects
almost half of all American teens. The
American Academy of Pediatrics calls cyberbullying the “most common online
risk for all teens.”

Today, countless youth are literally fighting to endure the
cruel and harsh words that class mates express from their own computers and
with the use of online games.

Cyberbullies can be classmates, online acquaintances, and
even anonymous users, but most often they actually know their victims.

Whether you’ve been a victim of cyberbullying, know someone
who has been cyberbullied, or have even cyberbullied yourself, there are
effective steps youth can take to stop cyberbullying and stay cyber-safe.

How Can I Prevent Cyberbullying?

Refuse
to pass along cyberbullying messages

Tell
friends to stop cyberbullying

Block
communication with cyberbullies

Report
cyberbullying to a trusted adult

You can also help
prevent cyberbullying by:

Speaking
with other students, as well as teachers and school administrators, to
develop rules against cyberbullying

Raising
awareness of the cyberbullying problem in your community by holding an
assembly and creating fliers to give to younger kids or parents

Sharing
NCPC’s anti-cyberbullying message with friends

Don’t forget that even though you can’t see a cyberbully or
the bully’s victim, cyberbullying can cause long-lasting effects to its victim
and unfortunately in some cases, trigger acts of suicide. If you wouldn’t say
it in person, don’t say it online. Delete cyberbullying. Don’t write it. Don’t
forward it.

June 29, 2012

Over the last decade, we have seen a large increase in population in America’s suburban communities. Unfortunately, in the Northern Virginia area and its surrounding communities, the massive growth in population also brings some negative baggage, including gang members and their beliefs. Gang membership has been on the rise, largely due to the presence of MS-13 (Mara Salvatrucha). This is by far the largest gang in the area, with an estimated three thousand active members in northern Virginia alone. Despite this increase in gang activity, law enforcement has done a good job educating the community and cracking down on gangs. And it has effectively reduced gang violence in the area. To continue to seek justice and reduce crime in our communities, strong ties between police and members of the community are of the utmost importance. In order to keep this gang epidemic from spreading further into our communities and schools, we must employ three types of prevention techniques.

Primary Prevention: Focuses on the entire population at risk and the identification of those conditions (personal, social, environmental) that promote criminal behavior. This type of prevention could include afterschool programs, Neighborhood Watch, or any other range of activities that offer alternatives/deter would-be gang members.

Secondary Prevention: Targets those who have been identified as being at greater risk to becoming delinquent. Giving our at-risk youth activities or jobs that occupy their time will decrease the likelihood of engaging in delinquent behavior.

Tertiary Prevention: Targets those who are already involved in criminal activity or who are gang members. Providing gang members with work programs that offer a legal and productive alternative from delinquent activities may be helpful. Also, therapy can sometimes prove useful as a way to get to the root of why he or she became a gang member and how he or she can move past his or her former lives. (Wilson, 2000)

Thanks to relentless help and tips from residents in the Northern Virginia area, a leader of the MS-13 gang has been recently sentenced to 50 years in federal prison. Northern Virginia has done a great job of dealing with this trending issue and can serve as a good model for suburban and even rural areas all over the country. There is nowhere in America that is still completely untouched by gangs or gang ideology. However, by having communities and local residents use the prevention techniques previously stated, as well as cooperating with local and area law enforcement, we can drastically reduce crime due to gang- related activity.

June 11, 2012

Public safety officers and police departments play a critical role in crime prevention. Law enforcement agencies are frequently the focal point; officers have first-hand knowledge of crime, its origins, and the community in which they serve. When citizens work with law enforcement, an even stronger force is created to promote public safety in local communities.

An estimated 40 percent of potential criminal activity is prevented because of reported tips from the community. Clearly, police departments have the expertise to stop crime before it happens. Departments also have the unique ability to unite community members, public safety organizations, and government officials together. However, recent and serious budget cuts and personnel reductions have threatened this mutually beneficial relationship between law enforcement and communities.

In 2011, police departments across the nation continued laying off critical personnel such as police officers, and implemented hiring freezes due to shrinking budgets. At least four major cities cut 10 percent of their forces. (Governing.com) President Barack Obama acknowledges the lack of public safety funding, allocating more funding for state and local law enforcement hiring in his 2013 budget proposal. Federal financial support is necessary for law enforcement agencies to continue working to prevent crime.

The National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) recognizes the crucial role law enforcement officers and professionals play in preventing crime. As a result, we proudly offer a national resource to enhance and promote crime prevention and professional development of crime prevention practitioners. The National Crime Prevention Association (NCPA) is an individual membership association for the crime prevention practitioner. The association offers training, resources, conference opportunities, information-sharing outlets, and other benefits for the practitioner.

This professional association allows people in the public, private, and community sectors to learn and share information about best practices in the discipline of crime prevention. NCPA plans to offer various resources that are not currently available through state-level associations. Some resources include regional information sharing, a national networking system, and access to a national database of proven crime prevention trainers.

We acknowledge the significance of crime prevention practitioners’ expertise. That’s why the NCPA and NCPC, in partnership with the Bureau of Justice Assistance of the U.S. Department of Justice, have developed a certification program to recognize outstanding achievement in the field of crime prevention.

Through this national certification program, crime prevention practitioners will finally be able to obtain recognition for the expertise that they have developed through years of education, training, experience, and countless hours devoted to their communities. We know that proven crime prevention techniques and practices work to keep communities safer. Now it’s time to recognize the field of crime prevention, and its expert practitioners, as crime prevention specialists. This national certification will do that by setting minimum standards for basic and advanced expertise and recognizing those who have done the work to meet them.

The dedication and support of organizations, communities, government, and people such as you are necessary to continue to prevent crime and its impact on our lives. Since the NCPA’s certification program began last year, over 40 people have been certified. To learn more about how you can apply for certification or to join the National Crime Prevention Association, visit http://www.ncpc.org

February 06, 2012

The history of sexual assault was changed in 2012 when Attorney General Eric Holder authorized a revised definition of rape. The previous definition, created in 1927, was “the carnal knowledge of a female, forcibly and against her will.” This definition was limited in sex of the victim and the type of physical attack. The new definition is “the penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.” This definition, while more graphic than the previous one, covers the breath of possible victims as well as types of attacks.

First, by characterizing the victim as a person instead of a female, the new definition now includes men. The second change to note is the “without the consent” part of the definition. The previous definition indicated that rape was forcible and without consent, which is common in stranger rape, but is not always the case in acquaintance rape when a person is incapacitated. The new definition now includes victims that are influenced by drugs or alcohol, mental capacity, or age.

So what does this new definition mean? This definition will be used for the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report, which releases annual information on serious crimes committed in the United States. Since the new definition expands the category of victims and types of victimization, it allows for a more accurate reporting of the number of occurrences of rape each year.

All of the information in this blog came from the Department of Justice blog, which can be found here. For more information on rape and sexual assault, visit RAINN (Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network) at www.rainn.org.